Building connections: technology design for living on a low income

This paper presents an exploration through participatory design in supporting those living on a low income. We share our findings from a workshop with users of an Australian non-profit organisation involved with food relief. This process of co-creation with disadvantaged participants led to ideas for technologies to assist those rebuilding after a crisis; namely the ideas of a time-stamped public transport card and a "crisis phone". Finally, we reflect on our design process to date with some considerations for future designs. For example, how we found that the informal conversations and diversions from the content of the workshop served to define the problem space better than activities that had been specifically planned for this purpose.